David Teniers the Younger

J.C.A. Mestern (1799-1884), Hamburg, by 1867;
By whom sold to Eduard F. Weber, Hamburg, 1882;
His deceased sale, Berlin, Lepke, 20-22 February 1912, lot 208, for DM 7,000 to Bondy;
Julius Priester (1865-1955), Vienna, by 1930;
Deposited by Julius Priester for safekeeping with the firm Oskar Föhr, Vienna, before he fled Austria in 1938;
Seized from the premises of Oskar Föhr by the Nazi authorities in 1944;
Discovered by the Allies in a cache of looted works in the Alt Ausee salt mines in May 1945;
Restituted to Julius Priester, Mexico City, in 1947 (Bundesministerium für Vermögenssicherung, Austria, inv. no. 321-7, 1061);
By inheritance to his brother Leo Priester, Mexico City, in 1955;
By inheritance to his son-in-law Albin Salton, New York;
His sale, New York, Christie's, 29 January 1999, lot 91, for $178,500.

New York, Maastricht, Noortman & Brod, Adriaen Brouwer, David Teniers the Younger, a Loan Exhibition of Paintings, 1982, no. 37.

G.F. Waagen, Catalogue Raisonné de la collection de tableaux de Mr. J.C.A. Mestern, à Hambourg, Hamburg 1867, pp. 19-20, no. 18;
G.F. Waagen, Raisonnirender Catalog der Gemälde-Sammlung des Herrn J.C.A. Mestern zu Hamburg, Hamburg 1874, pp. 17-8,  no. 15; 
G.F. Waagen, Raisonnirender Catalog der Gemälde-Sammlung des Herrn J.C.A. Mestern zu Hamburg, Hamburg 1877, p. 19, no. 10, reproduced;
Von Pflugk-Hartung, "Berichte und Mitteilungen [...]. Hamburg. Die Weber'sche Gemäldesammlung", in Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft, 1885, vol. VIII, p. 88;
F. Schlie, Herrvorragende Gemälde niederlandischer Meister der Galerie Weber, Hamburg, Vienna 1890, p. 6, no. 14, p. 12, engraved p. 5;
Cited in Nohring's Sammlung Weber, Lubeck circa 1898;
K. Woermann, Wissenschaftl. Verzeichnis der älteren Gemälde der Galerie Weber in Hamburg, Dresden 1892, p. 145-6, no. 177 (564);
K. Woermann, Wissenschaftl. Verzeichnis der älteren Gemälde der Galerie Weber in Hamburg, Dresden 1907, no. 208, pp. 176-7.
M. Klinge,  in Adriaen Brouwer, David Teniers the Younger. A Loan exhibition of paintings, exhibition catalogue, New York, Maastricht 1982, p. 106, cat. no. 37, reproduced p. 107.

"The following condition report has been provided by Henry Gentle, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. The oak panel is cradled. The paint layer is stable. There is a small retouching in the centre of the sky and along a 10cm hairline weakness at the top. The naturally thin paint layer is slightly abraded in the shadows cast by the merry couple in the foreground and to the fence in the mid ground. The varnish is only moderately discoloured but the composition would brighten, tonally, if it were removed. The painting, overall, is in a good condition."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This peasant scene from everyday life is wholly characteristic of Teniers' later work. The drunkard's merry farewell, the stern glance from the landlord and the encouraging tug from the wife all display the sympathetic approach with which the artist handled this type of genre scene which, according to Klinge (see Literature), dates from around 1650.¹

Teniers was surrounded by art and artists at every stage of his life.  He studied under his father, David Teniers the Elder, who was himself a painter. Later in life, he married the daughter of Jan Breughel the Elder. Her guardian and one of the signatories to their marriage contract, was none other than Sir Peter Paul Rubens. Teniers' involvement with the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke was predictably successful; he became a member in 1633 and by 1645 he was its dean.

Outside of the guild Teniers' career flourished to such an extent that he was even involved at a more official level. In 1651 Archduke Leopold Willhelm, governor of the Spanish Netherlands, brought Teniers to Brussels as Court Painter and Curator. From 1656 to 1659 he was Court Painter to the new Spanish governor, Don Juan of Austria, brother of Philip IV of Spain, and he maintained close contact with the court for the rest of his life. In 1663 Philip gave Teniers permission to found the influential Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.

1.  Compare, for example, A Scene Outside a Tavern sold London, Sotheby's, 14 December 1977, lot 249, where the drunkard's wave, the landlord's scowl and the wife's tug can also be found, although the surroundings differ.